May 9, 2007

Gas station owner told to raise prices.According to an article in Boston.com, a service station that offered discounted gas to senior citizens and people supporting youth sports has been ordered by the state to raise its prices.

The owner has been offering senior citizens a 2 cent per gallon price break and discount cards that let sports boosters pay 3 cents less per gallon. But the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection says those deals violate Wisconsin's Unfair Sales Act, which requires stations to sell gas for about 9.2 percent more than the wholesale price.

So if he does not not comply, he could be sue and penalized with a fine.

I understand the concept of 'unfair sales'. But I also understand that the law should be applied with common sense. One discount was for senior citizens and the other was a discount card so it is not exactly a discount, as some money was paid in advance to buy the card. Very very arguable by a good lawyer, but I still can't believe it how often people with good ideas ended up needing a lawyer...